A little validation...

[madscience]

Some choice quotes from a recent Reuters article:

Central bank forecasts this year have consistently been getting it wrong, underestimating how fast inflation would rise or how quickly economic growth would slow.
Pretty much the cause of the bank crisis that I nailed down in my last big post about it. The only thing unique about my theory is that

Comments

[biggingerdave]

It could be a far sighted Osama Bin Ladin anticipating the banking system of the West, and causing far more economic damage than an attack on the twin towers & Wall St. would alone.

Occam's razor (unfortunately) applies. The collective stupidity of the lending markets is easier to believe, and more likely the primary cause.

[madscience]

I doubt OBL gave it that much thought. He knew from experience that a major superpower, stuck in its ways both militarily and ideologically, would stubbornly bankrupt itself trying to fight an organization like his own. I think it worked out far better than he could have hoped. Not only did we take the bait in Afghanistan, but Shrub used it as an excuse to fight an even more expensive war against Saddam, whom OBL has always hated. So not only did we take a blow on 9/11, but we failed in Afghanistan, shot ourselves in the foot in Iraq, and succeeded in making the whole world hate us even more than it hates al-Qaeda. We gave OBL four victories for the price of one, thanks to our incompetent shithead President.